


circus dreamers

by spellman (orphan_account)



Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018)
Genre: (Susie is a trans man in this btw), Angst, Multi, Pining, Slow Burn, Trans Male Character, circus AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-09 04:19:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16442846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/spellman
Summary: The Spellman Circus is a mess at the best of times, but it's what we call family. There's more to life than magic -- though it makes up a great deal of what we know and love.





	circus dreamers

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY HALLOWEEN, WITCHES!   
> that is, if anyone's reading this 
> 
> i finished watching CAOS just today and i abso-fucking-lutely needed more, so here i am! i love the spellmans and i love circuses so here's what comes from the two combined i guess
> 
> enj0y

It was the first day of the season for the Spellman Circus troupe, and it was going… Well, it was going. The season’s beginning meant the first show since the prior year, and underprepared would have been a  _ severe  _ understatement, to say the least. Zelda’s insistent orders were really  _ not  _ helping, Ambrose couldn’t help but mention to Sabrina during practice. “She’s actually doing what might be the complete  _ opposite  _ of helping.” She laughed then, and as if on cue, Zelda stormed into the practice tent; subsequently filling it with her aura whether it was intentional or not. 

“This doesn’t look like practising, my dears. It looks like unnecessary dawdling, come  _ on  _ now. We’re  _ Spellmans _ , for Satan’s sake, not slackers!” she all but cried, pacing the performance space with a cigarette in hand.

“Ambrose is just helping me with my routine, Aunt, and I’m helping with his. It’s more productive than practicing alone, don’t you think?” Sabrina chimed in, smiling sweetly when Zelta whipped around to stare at her.

“Make it snappy then, we don’t have all day.” She turned to leave, and Ambrose rolled his eyes and mimed hanging himself. Sabrina snorted, widened her eyes, and waved at Zelda – who’d turned around again, but continued walking. 

“That woman is going to be the absolute death of me, I swear to all Hell.” Ambrose laughed as soon as she’d left.

“That’s no way to speak to your…  _ Loving Aunt.”  _ Sabrina droned, in an amusingly accurate caricature of Zelda’s voice. She held an invisible cigarette and began to pace, adopting the same manner that Zelda held herself with. Ambrose snorted this time, then stood and began to do the same. 

“Keep it  _ snappy!  _ We are  _ Spellmans, dah-ling!”  _

“After all I’ve done for you,  _ Ambrose!  _ How  _ dare  _ you take a three-minute break during  _ my  _ rehearsals!” she broke character then, staggering in laughter. “We should cut her some slack, really, the poor woman is stressed half to death!”

“Halfway to go, almost there!” Ambrose shrugged, the remnants of a laughing fit still there. “I’m kidding, of course I am! We should maybe practice though – you know, just in case.” 

Sabrina nodded, and got to work on her routine – which was, for the record, months and months in the making. It began with her drawing what seemed to be patterns in the sand, but actually appeared to be sigils and spells – not that the audience would know that – that’d make the sand rise and shimmer, giving it a galaxy-like appearance. Sabrina would then throw out her arms, dispersing the ‘stars’ and… That’s where she was stuck. 

“Maybe you could do something with them before you throw them out. Like make them do fancy patterns in the air, maybe?” He did the same thing with the sand, but instead of throwing it out, he moved his hands around smoothly, and the stars followed the hypnotic, almost dreamlike pattern. 

“That’s good, actually.” Sabrina said, nodding and moving closer to the sand.

“You were expecting otherwise?” Ambrose shrugged then, letting the stars drop to the ground, where they glowed for a few more seconds before ebbing away into sand again. Sabrina practiced her routine again, this time  _ with  _ the flamboyant star-spinning (and whatever else Ambrose told her to add in) until she finally had a full routine ready for the stage.

The Big Top gong sounded, making the tent shake, signalling what would be an hour until curtain call.

“Oh, Hell, we never got to practice yours!” Sabrina gasped.

“It’s fine, don’t stress, cousin. It’s yours that needed work anyway.” he grinned when she shoved him playfully. “Go get ready, I know how damned long you take.”

“Come and see me before you go onstage, okay? I’d like to wish you luck!” Sabrina waved when Ambrose nodded, and she disappeared out of the tent. 

“Maybe I do need  _ just  _ five minutes practice,” Ambrose mumbled to nobody in particular, and hoisted himself onto the platform. He ran through his routine a couple of times; an ethereal light show involving summoned lightning and (much like Sabrina’s act) stars spun from sand and gravel. After the fourth rehearsal, Ambrose jumped down, dusting off his hands and starting when he heard a voice from somewhere across the tent.

“Wow,” someone said, with an unreadable tone. “That was something else.”

“Forgive me, but I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic.” Ambrose replied, swivelling around to face the stranger, who’d made his way over. 

“Not at all. I don’t have time for sarcasm, if I’m honest.”

“Glad to hear it. Not that you’re not welcome here but – why are you here? Are you one of ours?”

“I’m not a  _ mortal,  _ if that’s what you mean?” the stranger narrowed his eyes a little, and walked forward some more. 

“Not what I meant, but glad to hear that also.”

“I’ll leave you to it, then--”

“I didn’t get your name,” Ambrose interrupted, holding out his hand. “Ambrose Spellman.”

The other boy nodded, smiling. “Luke Chalfant. Lovely meeting you, Mr. Spellman.” He took Ambrose’s hand and pressed a kiss to it – a notion that surprised, but didn’t anger Ambrose. “I’ll see you around.”

Ambrose nodded, smiling long after Luke had left.

 

The show went amazingly that night, all things considered. The acts themselves got their respective standing ovations, the attractions ran smoothly, and their new addition – the Oracles – were a huge hit. 

The Oracles were two mortals, albeit incredibly gifted ones. They were around Sabrina’s age: Rosalind, who had prophetic visions; and Susie, who communicated with spirits. It was incredibly rare of the Spellmans to give Big Top positions to mortals – a lower rank who were typically recruited as behind-the-scenes personnel. 

It was a gamble, whether the mortals would buy into the Oracles and what they told them, but then again, the Spellmans thought, it was a gamble whether the mortals would buy into the onstage magic – and they always had. 

Sabrina had tried to befriend the Oracles from the second that Hilda had recruited them, but even if subconsciously, they were somewhat wary of Sabrina and her powers. They seemed to shy away, as most mortals always had. After a while, she’d began to dine with the two of them during meals – she told them that they’d become outcasts if they only kept each other’s company constantly. This wasn’t  _ really  _ a lie, but it was only half a truth. The witches didn’t care for the mortals either way, but Sabrina was intrigued, and would do what it took to get in on their clique. 

“We should  _ totally  _ have an announcement for you guys! Imagine the revenue that you’ll get if we advertise with more than just a rickety sign?” Sabrina said, with a tone that could be likened to a TV sales pitch. “Imagine it,” she stood atop a hay bale, and pretended she was speaking into a microphone. “Rosalind Walker – future talker! She’ll tell you about the good, the bad and the ugly and everything in-between! Step right up! And the inscrutable psychic Susie Putnam! She sees your loved ones, she sees your fears, sh–”

“–it’s he,” Susie cut in, meekly, staring at the ground.

“Sorry?” Sabrina asked, hopping down off the bale. 

“Oh, it’s just, uh. Could you maybe call me  _ he _ , instead of  _ she _ ?”

“Oh! Yes, of course, I’m so sorry. And it’s Susie, or..?”

“Well, I haven’t come up with anything else, really.”

“I’ve asked him about this, believe me, ‘Brina. I told him ‘dude, you don’t like your name, find a new one!’ How hard can it be?” Rosalind chimed in, gesturing wildly.

“What name do I look like to you guys?” Susie asked, leaning back a little.

“Something with an R, I’d say.” Roz mused, looking to Sabrina, who nodded. “Russell? Ryan?”

“Ooh, no, I’d say Robin. Or Rob.”

“ _ Roscoe.”  _ he said, smiling. “What do you guys think of Roscoe?” The two girls smiled then, nodding.

“Yes!” Sabrina grinned. “I  _ love  _ that!”

“It’s so  _ you,  _ seriously!” Roz added.

“Roscoe and Roz – the Oracles.” Sabrina whispered, moving in to hug the two of them. It was going to be a great show tonight.

**Author's Note:**

> yayyyyyyy, chapter one is done!! please comment if you enjoyed, as that'll certainly motivate me to get to work on chapter two!! i'll try and get that posted by halloween, and i'll prolly make it a spooky one!
> 
> kudos are always appreciated, and until next chapter  
> more characters and shenanigans to come,  
> stay cool witchez


End file.
